Government

Buffalo's Acting Mayor, Chris Scanlon, said the proposed tax increase is necessary to help fill a projected budget deficit of $70 million for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year.

The City of Buffalo is well on its way to reaching its goal of inspecting 6,000 rental units in 2025 according to a report by the city's Department of Permits and Inspections. But data required by local law was left out.

Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand received office visits from a group of local organizers, Tuesday. The issue at hand was President Trump’s cabinet picks, and a campaign ally’s role at the Treasury Department.

Buffalo’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds have been encumbered, according to a city finance official. The assurance came from Acting Finance Commissioner, Raymour Nosworthy after a public back and forth between the comptroller and the acting mayor disputing the status of $2.5 million in ARP cash.

Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams says the city did not obligate almost $2.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan dollars before the Dec. 31, 2024 deadline, but Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon "firmly rejects" her claim.

The company GoNetspeed is set to install new fiber internet cable on utility poles owned by NYSEG. But the level of tree cutting work that’s been carried out to make way for the cable has caused concern for some residents.

In 2021 The City of Buffalo was handed $331 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds from the federal government. The money had to be under contract by the end of 2024. Cue a December dash for the deadline from the City of Buffalo, revealing a list of planned ARP-funded projects that would not be under contract in time.

Monday's vote saw the Buffalo Common Council approve a reversal of $2 million misallocated to revenue replacement and rolled back to ARP contracts.

The City of Buffalo previously promised the Buffalo and Erie County Naval Park $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan money to fund repairs to USS The Sullivans and USS Croaker. That money was withdrawn and rolled into revenue replacement instead. The city said they will find another way to bankroll the project.

The Buffalo Common Council voted 5 to 3 to reallocate more than $19 million originally destined for arts groups, road maintenance, and community center upgrades, to plug city budget gaps instead. The alternative? Hand the cash back to the federal government.